The Stuart Sailfish Club Hosts Successful 62nd Light Tackle Tournament at Exclusive Sailfish Point

PORT SALERNO, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 2015 – Despite moving rain showers and waves at 6-8 feet, The Stuart Sailfish Club hosted a very successful return of the 62^nd Annual Light Tackle Tournament and the 2^nd Annual Florida Sailfish Amateur Championship December 10-13 at the prestigious Sailfish Point Marina on Hutchinson Island in Stuart, Florida.  

 

Tournament Chair Thomas Dyer, who is also President of the Stuart Sailfish Club, was pleased with this year’s event.  “This is one of the most successful tournaments we’ve had in years.  The participation was high, despite the weather, and everyone had a great time.  Our partnership with Sailfish Point has really made a difference in this tournament; it’s a wonderful venue and they were very accommodating of our crews.”  25 boats participated in the two events, with a total release of 91 sailfish.  The Tournament is one of several leading up to the Treasure Coast Sailfish Championship. 

 

 

1^st Place winner of the Pro division was Cowpoke while the 1^st place winner of the Amateur division was Sea Check.  Final standings for all entries can be found at http://www.stuartsailfishclub.com/#!ltt-pro/c16v7 for the Professional Division and http://www.stuartsailfishclub.com/#!ltt-amateur/c1ndt  for the Amateur Division.

Congratulations Cowpoke - First Place Pro Division!!

Congratulations Sea Check - First Place Amateur Division!!

The next Tournament the Stuart Sailfish Club will participate in is the 66^th Annual Hemingway Billfish Tournament in Cuba.  The Club has been invited to participate in the tournament as part of it’s 75^th Anniversary and any member of the club is eligible to join the flotilla going to Cuba in mid-June. For more information about membership, contact the Stuart Sailfish Club at sailfish@stuartsailfishclub.com or call (772) 286-9373.  

Congratulations to Anglers and Winners of the 2015 Stuart Sailfish Club Members Tournament!

There was some anxiety about weather, but alas, it turned out to be a great day, reasonable seas and no rain.Committee Boat announcer,  Beth Davis called lines in at 8:00am and out at 3:00pm. Weigh Master Jim Weix opened the scale at 3:00.

Thirty anglers including men, women, and junior anglers fished releasing five sailfish and catching several gamefish to 25 lbs. including dolphin, kingfish, and wahoo.



Polly Whippen Award Nancy Hardwick

Nancy Hardwick (left) of the Showtime! didn't waste any time releasing the first sailfish of the day at 8:43 a.m putting her in the lead for the Top Angler award (which she never gave up) and the win for the Polly Whippen Award for the first female to release a sailfish that day.  Nice job Nancy!

Chefs Andy Kubiak and Dave Long did a great job on the grill with hamburgers, hot dogs, and dolphin (donated by anglers of the day).  Special thanks to Jodi Mills for chopping up all the fixings and providing an awesome pot of homemade baked beans.  

Thank you to all the volunteers for your work to make the 2015 Members Tournament a success. I believe everyone had a great time, and it could not have happened without your help.

Erika Long, Beth Davis, Betsey Riley, Angie Sherlock, Skip & Sheri Lascell, Christina Fortin,  Brett Shaming, John Millroy, Ed & Martha McGinley, Jodi Mills, Bill Astras, Jim Weix, Connie Turner, Margaret Dyer, Duff Dyer, Terri  and Russell Frederick, Dave Long, Tom Wichers, Ken Keolling , Jon Meade and Andy Kubiak. 

CO-CHAIRS       Dave Mills
 Beth Davis       Wink Doerzbacher      
 Andy Kubiak    Terri Fredrick                                        

While each of your efforts were important to bringing the whole event off, special recognition goes to Terri Frederick for her hours of work on the logo, shirts, and awards, to Brett Schaming on banner duty Thursday and again Sunday morning, John Millroy for management of the audio systems, Beth for sitting by a fairly quiet radio from 6:15AM to 5:00PM, and Margaret Dyer for jumping in on short notice to Saturday afternoon. And, yes, to the geriatrics team who handled all the tables & chairs Friday and Monday. They included Duff Dyer, Bill Astras, Skip Lascell, and yours truly. Certainly they were very grateful to Jon Meade and Russell Frederick from Showtime! who joined in on Monday morning to load & return such.

Top Small Boat Premier Boat Club

Top Jr. Angler Heather Milner

Top Boat - Showtime!

Top Angler - Nancy Hardwick

Billfish

1^st Place -  Showtime!    Team Nancy Hardwick, Fred Hardwick, Terri Frederick Captain Wink Doerzebacher, Jon Meade, Russell Frederick and Hunter Kinsey

2^nd Place - Sea Check      Team Brian Green, Phil Anson, TJ Anson, Rob Miller and Captain Bob Greene

3^rd Place - Unbelievable Team Rick Crandall, Rosemary Crandall and Captain VJ Bell

Meat Fish
1^st Place -  Premier Boat Club      Team Dan Herrema, Jeff Schulz
2^nd Place - Premier Boat Club      Team Dan Herrema, Jeff Schulz
3^rd Place - Showtime!    Team Nancy Hardwick, Fred Hardwick, Terri Frederick Captain Wink Doerzebacher, Jon Meade, Russell Frederick and Hunter Kinsey

Top Adult Angler                  Nancy Hardwick, Showtime!
Polly Whippen Award         Nancy Hardwick, Showtime!
Top Junior Angler                 Heather Milner, Triple Net
Top Small Boat                      Dan Herrema, Jeff Schultz, Premier Boat Club
Top Boat                                 Team Nancy Hardwick, Fred Hardwick, Terri Frederick Captain Wink    Doerzebacher, Jon Meade, Russell Frederick and Hunter Kinsey, Showtime!
 

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Stuart Sailfish Club’s Lady Anglers Tournament - News and Results

STUART, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 2015 – Stuart Sailfish Club’s 30^th Annual Saltwater Sisters Lady Angler Tournament succeeded in raising thousands of dollars for local charities.  The Tournament, held October 16 & 17, at Pirate’s Cove Resort and Marina, was bigger than the previous year both in number of boats participating and in dollars raised.    

 

Chairperson Margaret Dyer said this year’s Tournament was also more fun for a host of reasons.  “Everyone participating in this year’s tournament had a great time,” she said.  “Whether they fished, or just attended one of our parties, of which there were many, we heard time and again how much fun our guests were having.  I think the movie theme was a big part of it; everyone had so much fun dressing up in costume and decorating their boats.  I want to thank everyone who came out and fished, came to a party, volunteered, or sponsored this Tournament.  I think we’re all looking forward to what next year’s Tournament will bring.”

Some of the movies chosen by the teams included Casino Royale, Winnie the Pooh (the winner of the boat decorating contest), The Witches of Eastwick, Ladies of Disney and Annie Get Your Gun. 

The Tournament will once again benefit Friends in Pink, a local organization that provides financial assistance for those on the Treasure Coast battling breast cancer; Windsor Community Angels, an organization that pays for free mammograms for Treasure Coast residents; the Sailfish Club’s Scholarship program and numerous conservation related organizations.

The event was held at Pirate’s Cove Resort located at 4307 SE Bayview St., Stuart, FL 34997.  

Sponsors included Harbor Community Bank, HMY Yachts, Pirate’s Cove Resort, Windsor Imaging, Blue Water Landscape, GameGuard Outdoor Clothing, MarineMax of Stuart, Stuart Magazine, Treasure Coast Newspapers & TCPalm, Your Voice Weekly, Coastal Angler Magazine and Weekly Tidbits. 

 

RESULTS:

 

Fish Division

 

Dolphin

1st.  Theresa Caputo,   My Other Honey   20.13 lbs.

2nd. Cindy Brown,   Marine Max Fishing Team       19.75 lbs.

3rd.  Chloe Postin,   Sunshine    14.11 lbs. , also taking Top Junior Angler

 

Kingfish

1st.  Jodi Fogel,   Challenge   11.09 lbs.

2nd.  Angie Sherlock,  Knottley Krew    9.63 lbs.

3rd.  Jennifer Thomas,   Challenge        7.37 lbs.

 

No Sailfish released, no Wahoo caught.   

 

Boat Division, Other Awards:

 

Top Boat  My Other Honey                                                                                                                        

Polly Whippen Award, No sailfish released

Mother Daughter Award, My Other Honey, Pamela Page & Theresa Caputo

 

Best Costumes, Marine Max Fishing Team, “Annie Get Your Gun”

Best Overall Theme Boat Décor, My Other Honey

To view more photo's, click here.

For more information about Saltwater Sisters Fishing Tournament, go to www.SaltwaterSisters.com.  To view photos from the event, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SWSfish.

About the Stuart Sailfish Club

The STUART SAILFISH CLUB is located in Stuart, Florida, the "Sailfish Capital of the World". They were formed more than 74 years ago and incorporated in January of 1941.  They are one of the oldest sport fishing clubs in the United States, formed for the purpose of promoting the conservation of game fish and encouraging visitors to fish in Martin County waters.  For more information, visit their website at www.StuartSailfishClub.com, call 772-286-9373 or email them at sailfish@stuartsailfishclub.com.

 

 

Cuba Do's and Don't with Captain Phil

We had a great turnout for our very special guest speaker, Phil Thompson, an outdoor writer and author of "97 Miles South - Key West to Cuba," Phil Thompson's articles highlighting Cuba have appeared in the Huffington Post, USA Today and he is a regular contributor to Gaff and Coastal Angler magazines and On-Line Fisherman.  Capt. Phil spends time between Ruskin, Key West and Cuba.  Phil has made many passages to Cuba, and with the Stuart Sailfish Club's invitation to fish the 66th Ernest Hemingway Billfish Tournament in June of 2016, this was a very timely speaker to share with us the do's and don'ts of traveling in and around Cuba.

The meeting was held under the Pavilion behind Fish Heads of Stuart.  We had a projector set up which enabled Phil to share a lot of great stories with photo’s.  Everyone planning to go to Cuba learned a lot of great information and many of those who weren’t planning to go before are now thanks to Phil. 

















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Invitation to Havana, Cuba, 66th Ernest Hemingway Billfish Tournament:
The opportunity to fish the 66th Ernest Hemingway Billfish Tournament in Havana is the trip of a lifetime for many avid anglers, captains and owners.  We are now up to 11 boats that want to join us for the Flotilla to Havana, Cuba next June.  Several boats that are going have room for another couple to join them.  If would like to go on this historic trip and are willing to share expenses with a boat including splitting fuel costs, please let me and Tish know and we will match you up.  Anyone interested in making this trip needs to let us know of their interest so that we may add your name and email to a dedicated email group regarding requirements, permitting, and updates as we move forward.

Skip Smith, Marlin Magazine, Suggested Reading:
I just received the October issue of Marlin Magazine and the cover story is an excerpt from Capt. Skip Smith's new book Tales of a Hooker and her Madam.   Skip is our new Tournament Director for this Year's Light Tackle Tournament.  The article tells a portion of when Skip captained the Mother Ship Hooker and her sport fishing boat Madam, the most famous mothership operation of all time. Skip ran the Hooker around the world and hosted charters for many of the best anglers in the world.  The article is fascinating and includes a picture of one of our members and directors, Scott Levin, who served as the first mate on Hooker.  A much younger Scott by the way....  The full book is available from Amazon and I just ordered my copy.  I know you would enjoy the article and the book.